Oh wait. I remembered you are in southern California. I was just there, well central California. Birds of paradise were awesome, and there was another striking succulent with orange flowers.

oooh @kl23 thanks for that! I will look for the striking succulent with orange flowers! :))

I googled and found this (see photo). Aloe striata is what I saw with the birds of paradise blooming at the same time. I definatey also would grow the birds of paradise. It was amazingly beautiful. I also found this for other ideas for other times of year.

https://brainygardener.com/succulents-with-orange-flowers/

So will you try to find a green paint for your garden wall? Maybe take a cue from the succulents' foliage instead of any old olive green?

KL, those aloes don't flower very often. normally it's just the bottom portion.

however, Kangaroo Paws would be a close match for that look

@Beth H I wondered if maybe what I was seeing on my trip a couple of weeks ago was a fluke because of all the rain this year. I did thing the foliage was magnificent too.

KL, kangaroo paws look similar and stay in bloom a lot longer. (I have Aloes and haven't seen them flower like that picture at all!!)

@Beth H. SOOO pretty! 🤗

Thank you everyone SO MUCH for all your ideas.

Decided to paint the garage door white to reduce the yellow. And then do the retaining wall and planter same yellow as the house. Also asked the GC's helper to distress the bricks a bit so they match our entryway and aren't such a bright brick red.

Will use the dryscape like @Celery. Visualization, Rendering images provided to pull in the colors to match the roof as well as some orange and greens to offset the yellow.

Thank you again. The dryscape won't be until next year and the garage will be done after the rest of the remodel is finished but will do my best to post pics as things are finished. So appreciate everyone's help and ideas. :)

Right now we're trying to match the existing yellow stucco. We have eggshell sample but it actually looks darker than what we have. I'll see if I can get a better picture tomorrow. Next lighter color would be El Dorado if anyone is familiar with that.

@Beth H. :@kl23. We are using allegro color coat to refresh yellow exterior stucco. Any idea if it will darken or lighten over time? It's a shade darker than our current yellow.

it's very difficult to match an existing stucco color. the times I've had to repair my stucco, I've had to use paint over the base stucco. (i've always had paint on mine. will you be painting or just relying on the tint in the stucco? If the latter, I don't think you will get a perfect match)

You may just have to paint

Thank you @Beth H. : We are doing La Habra/Allegro color coat (fog coating with more color). This pic makes it look like the color is closer than it is. The new (top) color is a shade darker, than our original yellow (bottom). This would be fine. But La Habra said it will darken with time. And that's what concerns me. We're gonna do a sample with their lighter yellow -- El Dorado. But it looks like it might have more beige in it, which wouldn't be terrible, I guess... Open to any thoughts or ideas...

@VLee951 sorry I don't know about paint. The closest I've come to the process is to watch a concrete artist apply a tinted skim coat over a wire mesh attached to basic foundation block and then stamp it in a form similar to granite blocks on old banks. I don't think there was any lightening.

@VLee951, artistically speaking, better to have it a shade darker lower and lighter as you go up. You'll be allright.

@kl23 so appreciate your input.

This is just our sample - GC painted new color on the top and the bottom of the pic is our original yellow.

House will be all same yellow once we decide on the color.

Can you show the two possible new colors side by side? It sound to me like either would be fine but you should look at both side by side on the house to decide, don't you think?

Just got a small square of the new La Habra El Dorado color coat. It looks practically white and maybe a little beige. I'll post a picture once we get the sample up on the house. I saw a video online of the El Dorado Stucco and it looked kind of sand color but not in a good way.

If it tends toward white I think it would be okay. I read white is the new external paint color for 2023 and beige is the new grey. Except my realtor friend said white always has to be pressure-washed.

@VLee haha... Doesn't it seem like no matter what you do it needs maintenance? Where I live, algae grows on the sides of houses. Uck! I found my concrete patio put a stop to that...surprise! Sometimes we make happy mistakes. An annual pressure washing can be fun on a hot day. You can buy a fairly good one at a fairly low price on Amazon. Hopefully you have sufficient outdoor water outlets and electrical outlets. I love the way my patio looks after it's pressure-washing bath. 

I look forward to your next photos.

Yes always something 😆

We’ll see how it looks when they put the sample on the house. 👍🏻

And yes I will definitely share photos!

vLee,, I just had my stucco repainted. Swiss Coffee with a gray and a black trim

it's hard to get a full on shot of the house

@Beth H. :That is LOVELY! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!

I LOVE pictures!

I'm hoping the El Dorado looks good. I have heard that white and beige are the next trend. Might be more updated than yellow and not so overpowering with the planter and retaining wall. But we'll see how the sample looks.

Plus then I don't know if our white trim would work....hmmmm

honestly, you can do any color. I think yellow is super safe. I'd go for a bit of a MCM look. redo the landscaping, do some contrast colors on the house, bring in some wood accents. could be really nice looking

landscaping will be the main portion of curb appeal on your house. doesn't matter what color it is if the landscape isn't done.

Beth H. is so good at finding these modern looks!

Thank you @Beth H. :Really appreciate the pictures. Are you seeing exterior paint go lighter again? Most of the houses in our neighborhood have color. And the recently updated ones are all some version of dark grey.

We're using La Habra color coat. We couldn't find a yellow light enough to match what we have so we're gonna try the El Dorado which looks like more of an ivory (and hopefully not a sand color). Fingers crossed

@VLee 951 from what I can see of pictures of El Dorado on line, it looks like what I think of as a beautiful classic stucco. I imagine terra cotta and wood doors and cactus and succulents looking awesome with it. I think I like it a lot better than yellow, though yellow is pretty too. The thing is, I am now wondering, with this classic cream color... Would using the same material on the retaining wall look good? What do you think?

I think the brick top on the retaining wall would look really good with the El Dorado. What about the roof? What color for that? Assuming you won't go to the expense of a terra cotta tiles roof. ☺️

@kl23The roof is grey with mix of blues and greens. Thinking I'll match the dryscape to the roof colors to bring things together.

I've been looking around the neighborhood at houses that are more cream. You're right works well with the brick but would need darker trim (ours eaves are butter yellow). And goes with terra cotta roof.

We are at 7 months into a 3 month remodel (lol) and still a couple more months to be completely done. We just kept adding things once we got going. If we were just doing the exterior/stucco refresh, we could get a little more creative. But we are on fumes and prob need to go with simplest option at this point.

My instinct is to go with the eggshell and paint the garage white and then use the dryscape for color that brings things together.

But I SO APPRECIATE everyone's suggestions. My only wish is that I would have found you all 7 months ago! :)

btw- I have other threads for interior questions. I'm new to Houzz and wasn't sure if it's best to keep it all together or do separate posts???

THANK YOU AGAIN!

Blues and greens sound nice with creamy stucco too!

@kl23thank you :)

Would it work to still have a white front door and possibly white garage? Right now garage door is light yellow.

@VLee a white house on this street has a cream colored garage door, and I like the two colors together. I think a white garage door may look good with a cream-colored house. The current color (is it white or cream?) may look nice too. Are you getting a new garage door? Just looking for context. I wouldn't create strong contrast at the garage door. However, for the front door, have you thought of attracting attention to it with a contrasting color? This is commonly recommended. I mentioned a wood door, but around my neighborhood you'd better have steel. So maybe a color would be nice on a steel door, something besides white. So, if you like greens and blues or blue-greens, maybe you could find one that just makes you happy whenever you see it. Or maybe also repeat it indoors a little so the outside sets the tone for the inside. I recently changed the outside of my house to cocoa brown and am trying to repeat that a little inside at the entry and the living room.

So, anyway, what are your favorite colors? Are they blues and greens? Like in your overall grey roof? What do you think of choosing a favorite color for your front door?

@Vlee... Sorry, I see you said the garage door is light yellow. Matching the El Dorado or going with white like your trim should both work fine.

@kl23Thank you so much for hanging in there with me. Just saw your long message from yesterday. You are so kind and helpful.

I woke up today thinking about doing the walls in el dorado or white... still trying to get away from so much yellow. But it doesn't quite work.

Actually I think it still looks better with all yellow and can just do garage white. Can also distress the bricks so they're not so bright.

(btw- bottom pic is closer to our yellow. I just couldn't find it in SW visualizer)

p.s. one of my favorite colors is white. lol. :)

I don't particularly like yellow. But it does set the tone for the inside. White walls and cabinets with unfinished white oak floors. Will do Spring color accents -- pink, blues, yellows.

Also will try to get softer dryscape flowers - recently saw some purple and white daisies and poppies and other purple flowers that I think can live in dryscape so outside will look more like inside. Thank you again. <3

Some possible options from our neighborhood — to bring in some color.

Just playing more

Thank you!!! :))

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering images I notice you removed the bricks. I was thinking about having the GC go ahead and paint them yellow too! (the capstones). We had him get brick color when we were initially planning a darker color. We have a distressed brick walkway steps and front porch. We can either distress them or leave brick color. What do you think?

And do you have a visualizer for the dryscape/front yard?

Those are very pretty flowers. It's a great strategy to cruise the neighborhood looking for appropriate plants.

Thanks @K L! Trying to find flowers that are colorful but won’t need much water. 🙏🏼

@Vlee951 thats a great strategy. I like plants that don't need to be babied.

You check local nurseries what plants they have for your zone.

@kl23 @Celery. Visualization, Rendering images

Yes! After the remodel is done we are planning to do dryscape out front. Where we live they will pay to take out your lawn and replace with drought resistant plants.We just have to give them the plan of what we are doing.

What an awesome deal!!!!!

I don't mind the white, but in that latest rendition it looks very washed out.

If you had a terra cotta spanish roof tile, it would be fine, (Like this one)

but w/that gray asphalt roof? I think you need some contrast or some wood.

I love this style garage door in a dark color. I'd also do the roof fascia trim in ithe darker color, the window trim, and I brought in the wood slat under this front window

(but you could also do the slat wood around the front door area too)

Even w/the landscaping in first pic, notice the stone pathway, the urns, the DG, and I love those garage doors.

Here's a stucco home w/a very light grayish white, white trim, but again, notice the dark garage door

Imagine this home w/the white trim and white garage door, and a white retaining wall!

see what I mean?

Maybe Celery could somehow work in the darker trim, door and wood? maybe some slats in front or the retaining wall?

another way to spice up the retaining wall:

I still like a dark stucco color

@K L they just pay for the removal but hopefully it covers the new plants. 🙏🏼

@Beth H really appreciate your ideas and especially the pictures. But we are 7 months into a 3 month interior remodel and just wanted to freshen up the outside a bit.

Trying to wrap things up as simply as possible.

Otherwise would be fun to play with some of your suggestions.

@VLee951 and @Beth H I'm really smitten with the lettering style (art deco?) of those big house numbers. I think there is room for them to the right of the main entry. I think they might help a stranger find the front door too. Where did you source those? @VLee, what do you think?

@VLee951 even if all they do is remove the lawn and replace it with compost that's a huge deal. Hopefully they are not doing this to get compost others or you have to pay for, but even so, it's a good deal. That's a lot of backbreaking work to remove a lawn. Have some ice water handy. You will feel like giving it out. ☺️

@VLee951 I'm looking at the simulation with the wall painted the color of the house, and it doesn't seem right to me. I think it makes the house and yard look small. I think it would be better to make it less contrasting with the surrounding concrete and eventual greenery. I suppose if you are having it painted now, you could go ahead and try to paint it the house color, but after the planting re-evaluate and think about what I said. No rush.

@Beth H I agree with you that it would be really neat to add a tile roof to this house someday. Do you have the ability/software to do a full-blown redo of the house with creamy stucco and a tile roof? @VLee951 could you please take another photo of the house without the car in the drive or any other obstacles? Also could you take it at an angle that shows the front door straight on? Make sure you get the entire house? I'd love to see that. Get as much of the front yard as you can...from a standing position or from the back of a pickup for example. Even if you don't do the work now, you'll be glad to have it to play with later.

thank you both. lots of great ideas